Nature doesn't stop

The  blogging stops but nature keeps on going. The badgers continue to visit on a nightly basis although the youngster is now much bigger and by the sound of things, when he bundles through the hole in the fence, he's a little clumsy. It's not been caught on video yet but that's a project for the future. As the video below shows, there are two badgers visiting the garden and their visits are throughout the night, joined by a couple of foxes. We've got the adult male who has been visiting for at least two years who is quite distinctive in that he squats down as he eats the peanuts and has a large, long tail, and then there is the new badger cub. The cub is now pretty much adult size but his/her tail is smaller. That may be because it's female or just young, the other telltale signs of badger gender are proving difficult to identify. The youngster certainly is hedging its bets returning at least three times during the night.

Additionally the pond is rejuvenated following a refresh in 2015. There are now at least three Common Frogs, one of which is the size of a child's hand, and at least two newts. One is definitely a Common Newt and the other is harder to be sure about. It could be a Great Crested Newt which would be a long shot but it does have a very orange belly and black splotches, although it's skin does not have the rough, warty texture. Hopefully the frogs and newts will produce some offspring next year.